Attending the conference at the central location were also members of the Steering Committee and the National Committee; leaders of the Standing Office of the Steering Committee and the Office of the National Committee; representatives of international organizations and partners in disaster mitigation… Representing the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment , Deputy Minister Le Cong Thanh attended the conference.
Speaking at the conference, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang emphasized that in 2023 and the first months of 2024, Vietnam faced various types of natural disasters due to the impact of the El Nino phenomenon. Ministries, sectors, and localities closely monitored the situation, proactively directed and responded, and compared to previous years, the response has been more effective nationwide. A very encouraging development is the improved quality of meteorological and hydrological forecasts.
Nearly 2,000 natural disasters occur in a year.
Looking back at the disaster prevention and search and rescue work in 2023 and the first months of 2024, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan - Deputy Head of the Standing Committee of the National Steering Committee on Disaster Prevention and Control - stated: In 2023, extreme natural disasters occurred across all regions with 1,964 events (21 out of 22 types), especially heavy rains causing landslides, flash floods, and widespread flooding.
This was an unusual year, with significantly fewer storms and tropical depressions than the multi-year average, and no storms making landfall. Nevertheless, the damage was substantial in terms of human lives, property, and infrastructure, impacting people's lives and livelihoods. Many maritime accidents, building collapses, chemical and toxic substance incidents, oil spills, fires, and explosions occurred more frequently and with greater severity than the previous year.
In total, in 2023, 5,331 incidents of natural disasters occurred nationwide, resulting in 1,129 deaths and missing persons. Economic losses due to natural disasters were estimated at over 9,324 billion VND.
From the beginning of 2024 to the present, several serious natural disasters have occurred nationwide, including severe cold spells in the Northern and North Central regions; drought, saltwater intrusion, landslides, land subsidence, and tidal flooding in the Mekong Delta (most severe in Ca Mau); drought in the Central Highlands; heavy rain, thunderstorms, lightning, and hail in the Northern, North Central, Central Highlands, and Southern regions (hailing and thunderstorms occurred consecutively in 19 provinces in the Northern and North Central regions); historically high temperatures at 110 out of 186 weather stations nationwide; earthquakes in the provinces and cities of Hoa Binh, Lai Chau, Tuyen Quang, Hanoi, and Kon Tum; strong winds and high waves at sea… These natural disasters have resulted in 14 deaths and missing persons; and estimated material damage exceeding 399 billion VND.
To enhance the effectiveness of disaster prevention and search and rescue work, in recent times, the Steering Committee, the National Committee, and the local Disaster Prevention and Search and Rescue Commands have reorganized, assigned tasks, reviewed, and adjusted the operational regulations of the Steering Committees, the National Committee, and the Commands at all levels. In addition, the system of legal documents continues to be improved, with a highlight being the National Assembly's adoption of Law No. 18/2023/QH15 on Civil Defense. The draft Government Decree detailing some provisions of the Law on Civil Defense is being finalized, and the Law on Emergency Situations is in the process of being drafted.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has also drafted a Decree to replace Decree No. 02/2017/ND-CP on mechanisms and policies to support agricultural production to restore production in areas damaged by natural disasters and epidemics, and is expected to submit it to the Government for promulgation in 2024; it has also submitted a Decree amending Decree 78/2021/ND-CP on the establishment and management of the Disaster Prevention and Control Fund.
Preparedness for response before, during, and after natural disasters.
Speaking at the Conference, Minister Le Minh Hoan affirmed that in the past year, prevention work has been implemented comprehensively in both depth and breadth. At the central level, a nationwide online conference on disaster prevention and search and rescue work in 2023 was organized, along with a conference to enhance the capacity of the Standing Offices of the Steering Committees for Disaster Prevention and Search and Rescue in provinces/cities; and the Planning, Strategies, Plans, and Projects related to disaster prevention and search and rescue work up to 2030 and beyond have been completed and implemented.
Meteorological and hydrological forecasts and warnings about dangerous weather phenomena have been provided promptly to support guidance, prevention, and mitigation of natural disaster risks, as well as proactive planning for production and business. Local authorities have installed additional automatic rain gauge stations to serve the forecasting and warning of natural disasters (the total number of dedicated stations by March 2024 is 2,552).
In 2023, the National Steering Committee for Disaster Prevention and Control organized the National Disaster Prevention and Control Week with the theme "From Response to Early Action" in Quang Nam province and guided ministries, sectors, and localities in implementing it; at the same time, it approved the content of the White Paper on Disaster Prevention and Control in Vietnam and widely published it on the Steering Committee's website. The Vietnam Disaster Monitoring System (VNDMS) has also proven effective in advising, directing, and managing disaster situations.
Information and communication efforts have been strengthened with the active participation of news agencies and media outlets, especially the Disaster Prevention and Control Journalists' Club, which regularly provides information related to the disaster situation through various forms: print newspapers, online newspapers, radio, television, multimedia publications, social media, etc. Numerous conferences, training courses, and workshops on enhancing community capacity in disaster prevention and control are also regularly organized.
In addition, ministries, departments, and localities have organized hundreds of training courses on rescue and relief operations; drills have been conducted on various scales, from international to ward and commune levels, with the full participation of all forces, aiming to enhance the ability to respond to natural disasters, incidents, and search and rescue situations.
Regarding disaster response, incident response, and search and rescue, in 2023 alone, ministries, sectors, and localities effectively handled 4,336 incidents, rescued 3,968 people and 207 vehicles; guided and assisted in relocating nearly 963,000 people from dangerous areas to safe areas...
In 2023, the Prime Minister allocated 8,500 billion VND from the central government's contingency budget to 43 provinces and cities for disaster prevention, mitigation, and recovery; the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development provided seeds and disinfectants to help stabilize production after the disasters. Immediately after the disasters occurred, State and Government leaders, the Steering Committee, and local leaders at all levels went directly to the scene to encourage and visit affected people, inspect the recovery efforts, and quickly stabilize people's lives.
In 2023, assuming the chairmanship of the ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM), Vietnam organized the AMMDM Conference and related events. Vietnam also continued to promote cooperation in international and regional forums in the field of disaster response and search and rescue. In particular, with the deployment of forces to participate in humanitarian assistance and earthquake relief in Turkey in February 2023, the Turkish President expressed his gratitude, and the Turkish people and the international community acknowledged and highly appreciated Vietnam's contribution.
Focus on addressing existing shortcomings and limitations.
At the conference, representatives from the Steering Committee for Disaster Prevention and Search and Rescue of ministries, sectors, and localities presented papers and discussions to comprehensively assess disaster prevention work in 2023 and the first months of 2024, including achievements, shortcomings, limitations, and lessons learned from practical experience in directing and managing disaster prevention work in the past period. In addition, the conference assessed the disaster situation in 2024, and proposed several key tasks and solutions to improve the quality of disaster prevention work in the year.
While acknowledging the achievements, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang also pointed out some remaining issues. Accordingly, the awareness of the people and some officials is still inadequate; the inspection and supervision of response efforts before the rainy and stormy season have not been carried out effectively everywhere. Early warning and forecasting still have areas that need improvement. Some current legal regulations are unclear or outdated and no longer suitable for current practices. Furthermore, on a national level, the resilience of infrastructure to natural disasters remains limited.
To proactively respond to and minimize damage from natural disasters in 2024, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang requested that ministries, agencies, and local People's Committees continue to review and strengthen the Steering Committees for Disaster Prevention and Control and Civil Defense at all levels in accordance with the Law on Civil Defense, which takes effect from July 1, 2024. The armed forces are prioritized to demonstrate their role as the fastest, strongest, and most timely force in responding to natural disasters and adverse situations.
The work of perfecting legal documents on disaster prevention and control needs to continue, creating a legal framework for implementing activities in practice. "Some policy mechanisms need to be newly developed; they must be revamped, not just amended," the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.
Communication and information dissemination efforts need to be further strengthened to raise awareness among ministries, departments, and the community, focusing on new forms of information dissemination through text messages and social media. In addition, inspection and monitoring should be intensified before the rainy season and floods. The Deputy Prime Minister requested that localities carefully review their disaster prevention and control plans to develop the most appropriate response strategies to meet practical needs.
Along with improving the quality of forecasting to ensure it is as timely and accurate as possible, the Deputy Prime Minister also requested that localities and ministries further enhance their operational capacity. When natural disasters occur, the head of the locality, as the direct commander on the spot, is the only one who can make the wisest and most reasonable decisions at that time, based on the general principles set forth by the organization – the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.
Mobilizing investment resources for disaster prevention and mitigation also needs to be strengthened in the coming period. The Deputy Prime Minister expressed that Vietnam also hopes that international organizations will continue to cooperate in sharing information, training personnel, disseminating experiences in responding to and overcoming incidents and natural disasters; and at the same time consider funding forecasting work to proactively respond and reduce damage.
Source: https://baotainguyenmoitruong.vn/chu-dong-ung-pho-giup-nang-cao-hieu-qua-phong-chong-thien-tai-374010.html
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